Okay try these. Attacks come from all angles, not just the front. To interpret kata look at attacks from different angles and see what you get. Stacked hands imply grappling such as keylocks. Crossed hands imply grappling. Elbow strikes are not always strikes. They can be interpretted as elbow spikes to enter the clinch range. Especially if preceded by a kick or a punch. Crossed legged stances such as kosa dachi implies a knee strike, kick, or tai sabaki, or all three.Many techniques in low stances such as horse stance or front stance are throwing techniques. Many turns in kata are throws or unbalancing techniques. The chambering hand should be holding or trapping something when it chambers. A step can be a kick with the shin to a downed opponent or a knee strike to the thigh. These are just a few and some of it depends on your particular style and kata.

in general, if I see kata application that is against a long-range attack from 2 perfectly timed opponents striking at the same time in opposite directions, defending with just their arms while not even able to see the other opponent....yep, I'm gonna pick on it.

I would love to have an instructor that was well informed on the topic but I don't. In fact I have at time been ridiculed for pursuing the practice at all.

I am primarily a visual an kinesthetic learner. I am many time able to "see" and imagine things others have a hard time with. As with any creative or investigative approach in the beginning I had alot more bad/ineffective conclusions than effective approaches. There are books that lay out priorities or rules to consider. I couldn't do them justice.

One rule?

Things are not just what they seem.

A chair is not just a chair. It can be used a step stool, a doorstop or a pony depending on who is looking at it and what their needs are.

to paraphrase Victor, "it's all movement" and I don't know what the heck a fractal is. I'm sure I could learn faster with a great teacher or a different art, but I'm enjoying what I'm doing now and I try not to be too envious of others and their knowledge or arts.